Combination sewer plug stopper and standpipe



June 23, 1959 A. MOELLER COMBINATION SEWER PLUG STOPPER AND STANDPIPE Filed July 21, 1954 INVENTOR AXEL MOELLER BY KL ATTORNEYS United States COMBINATION SEWER PLUG STOPPER AND STANDPIPE Axel Moeller, Racine, Wis., assignor to Moeller Manufacturing Co., Inc., Racine, Wis., a corporation Application July21, 1954, Serial No. 444,817 1 Claim. 01. 137-593 This invention appertains broadly to expansion stoppers or closures and more particularly to an improved stopper especially adapted for sealing sewer drain pipes in cellars and basements, and is another form of my stopper shown in my co-pending application Serial. Number 444,818, filed July 21, 1954, now Patent Number 2,773,617, granted December 11, 1956.

One of the primary objects of this present invention is to provide a novel device for effectively preventing the flooding of cellars and basements by the backing up of Water in sewer drain pipes incident to heavy rains.

Another salient object of my invention is to provide an adjustable stopper for detachable association with a bowl and sewer drain pipe having connected therewith for communication with the drain pipe, a standpipe of a desired height to establish a raised water level whereby flow of water into the cellar will be prevented.

A further object of my invention is to provide means for adjusting the stopper from the upper end of the drain pipe to permit the easy placing of the stopper in position in the bowl or the removal thereof from the bowl when desirable.

A still further object of my invention is to provide a novel arrangement of openings in the lower wall of the expansion stopper body and its bottom supporting and compression plate, whereby irrespective of the position of the plate and body relative to one another, certain openings in the plate and body will be in registration to permit a water connection between the standpipe and the drain pipe.

A still further object of my invention is to provide a novel top compression plate for the compressible body so that the plate and body will be correctly centered and whereby the plate will form an effective support for the standpipe.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists in the novel construction, arrangement and formation of parts, as will be hereinafter more specifically described and claimed and illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which drawing,

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of my improved combination stopper and standpipe, the view showing my device in position in a drain bowl and pipe, the bowl and a fragment of the pipe being shown in central vertical section;

Figure 2 is a view similar to Figure 1, but on an enlarged scale and showing my improved device in central vertical section;

Figure 3 is a fragmentary central vertical sectional view through the lower end of my device showing the same removed from the drain bowl, and

Figure 4 is a horizontal sectional view taken on the line 44 of Figure 3, looking in the direction of the arrows, the view showing the novel arrangement of the openings in the body and the lower plate.

Referring to the drawing in detail, wherein similar reference characters designate corresponding parts throughout the several views, the letter D generally indicates my situated in lieu of forming a complete seal.

2,891,575 Patented June 23, 1959 ice improved device for association with a sewer drain bowl B having a depending sleeve 5 for receiving a sewer drain pipe, not shown.

In my co-pending application heretofore referred'to, I have shown a complete means for sealing the bowl and in some instances, it is preferable to establish a raised water level in the basement or cellar where the bowl is My improved device D includes a stopper portion 6 carrying a standpipe 7 of a desired height. The stopper portion 6 includes a compressible resilient body 8 and this body consists of an annular side wall 9 and a bottom wall 10. The outer face of the side wall 9 is provided. with equidistantly spaced annular ribs 11, as taught in my prior Patent No. 2,315,538.. The upper end of the side wall 9 has formed thereon an outstanding tapered flange 12, which functions as a top seal, as will later appear. The axial center of the bottom wall 10 is provided with a guide opening 13, the purpose of which will also appear. Around the opening 13 at quarters are enlarged water flow openings 14. The compressible body 6 is confined between a lower supporting and compression plate 15 and a top compression plate 16. Extending axially through the body 6 and the drain pipe 7 is an' adjusting rod 17 and the lower end of this rod extends through the opening 13 in the bottom wall 10 of the body 6. The lower end of the rod 17 is rigidly secured to the bottom plate 15, in any desired way. As illustrated, the lower end of the rod 17 is reduced in diameter and this reduced end is inserted through the plate 15 with the extreme end thereof upset. The lower plate 15 is provided with a series of water flow openings 18 and these openings are preferably arranged at thirds two of these openings being spaced adjacent one another with the distance between their outer circumferences being less than the diameter of one opening 14, with the third opening being in register with the opening 14 diametrically opposite the other two spaced openings 18, so that irrespective of the position of the plate 15 relative to the body 6, certain openings 18 will register with certain openings 14. The central opening 13 defines means for centering the rod 17 and the plate 15 relative to the body 6.

The upper plate 16 entirely overlies the upper face of the body 6 and the lower face of this plate has formed thereon a depending boss 19 which is snugly received within the side wall 9 of the body. Hence, the top plate 16 is always centered relative to the body. This plate and its 'boss are provided with an axially disposed opening 20 and formed on the upper surface of the plate 16 around the opening 20 is a sleeve 21. Rigidly secured within the sleeve 21 and the opening 20 is the standpipe 7, and the upper plate 16 and the standpipe 7 can have a press fit.

The extreme upper end of the standpipe 7 receives a cap 22 and the rod 17 extends axially through the cap. The upper end of the rod 17 is threaded and is received within the threaded bore 23 of an elongated adjusting nut 24. The nut 24 is formed so as to facilitate the manual turning thereof and to facilitate this turning the nut can be provided with a handle 25. The lower end of the nut 24 is formed the same as the lower end of the nut shown in my co-pending application and hence the lower end of the nut 24 is provided with a sleeve extension 26 which extends through the cap. Air escape openings 27 can be formed in the upper end of the standpipe.

In use of my invention, the nut 24 is threaded up on the rod 17 so that the body 6 will be in a noncompressed position, after which the body is forced into the bowl with the flange 12 in intimate contact with the surface of the bowl around the sleeve 5. The nut is now threaded down on the rod and this will compress the body 6 longitudinally and bring about the radial expansion thereof into intimate sealing contact with the sleeve 5. Obviously, after the water level rises above the bowl, the water will merely flow into the standpipe 7.

Changes in details may be made without departing from the spirit or the scope of this invention, but what I claim as new is:

A device for preventing the flooding of cellars and basements through the backing up of water in a drain bowl and sewer pipe comprising an expansion stopper having a compressible and resilient body, said body having an annular side Wall and a bottom Wall, upper and lower compression plates fitted against the opposite ends of the body, said bottom wall having an axially disposed guide opening, an adjusting rod rigidly secured to the bottom plate extending through the opening whereby the body and bottom plate will be centered, said upper plate having an annular depending boss extending into the upper end of the body for centering said upper plate and said body, a standpipe carried by the upper plate having communication with the interior of the body and receiving said rod, means engaging the upper end of the standpipe, and a nut threaded on the upper end of the rod engaging said means, said bottom wall and said lower plate having Water flow openings therein, said openings in the bottom wall being of a sufficiently greater number than the openings in the bottom plate so that regardless of the position of the bottom wall in relation to the bottom plate one opening in the bottom wall Will be in partial registration with an opening in said bottom plate.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 341,170 Reese May 4, 1886 1,226,209 Harris May 15, 1917 1,616,392 Provost Feb. 1, 1927 2,177,916 Thomas et al. Oct. 31, 1939 2,683,499 De Croes July 13, 1954 2,685,380 Moeller Aug. 3, 1954 

